Jwan Yosef (born 6 September 1984) is a Swedish-Syrian painter and artist. He specializes in

plastic arts Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a ''plastic medium'', such as clay, wax, paint or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a ductile polymer) to create works of art. The term is used more generally to ...

and is based in London, England.

Early life and education

Yosef was born in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, to a Kurdish father and an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

mother. His family emigrated to Sweden when he was two years old, and later he studied painting in Pernby School of Painting in Stockholm between 2004 and 2006, then moved to Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm.C Print: There and Back Again
.

Career

Yosef has taken part in a great number of art fairs and group exhibitions. He held two solo exhibitions in 2013 titled ''Painting about Sex, Flesh and Violence, lol'' at the DIVUS Gallery in London and ''High Notes'', at the Galleri Anna Thulin, Stockholm. He participated in the Threadneedle Prize exhibition in 2013 and the BEERS Contemporary Award for Emerging Art both in 2013. In 2015, he exhibited at Galleri Bon with group exhibition ''There and Back Again'' with fellow Konstfack graduates Josef Bull, Petr Davydtchenko and Natasja Loutchko. He is a founding member and studio holder at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation in Archway, North London.

Personal life

In April 2016, during the amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research gala in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil, Yosef publicly announced that he had been in a relationship with Puerto Rican singer

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

. The couple married in 2017. On 31 December 2018, Martin and Yosef announced, via

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, the birth of their daughter, Lucia Martin-Yosef. On 29 October 2019, Martin and Yosef announced the birth of their son, Renn Martin-Yosef. In July 2023, it was announced that Martin and Yosef had separated after six years of marriage.

References

External links

Jwan Yosef Official websiteFacebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yosef, Jwan Syrian emigrants to Sweden Swedish male painters 1984 births Living people Swedish people of Kurdish descent Swedish people of Armenian descent Naturalized citizens of Sweden Swedish gay artists Swedish LGBTQ painters Swedish contemporary artists Swedish gay men Gay painters Konstfack alumni Alumni of Central Saint Martins Syrian people of Armenian descent Artists from London Syrian gay men Syrian Kurdish people Ricky Martin Kurdish male artists Kurdish artists Swedish expatriates in England Kurdish LGBTQ people 20th-century Swedish LGBTQ people 21st-century Swedish LGBTQ people 21st-century Swedish male artists 21st-century Swedish painters 20th-century Syrian painters 21st-century Syrian artists 21st-century Syrian painters 21st-century Syrian male artists Syrian contemporary artists People from Al-Hasakah Governorate